These seven projects will add nearly 300 affordable housing units in Louisville
The Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund is using $40 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for seven projects that will add nearly 300 units around the city for some of its poorest residents, one more incremental step to closing an estimated shortage of over 30,000 affordable units, officials said Thursday.
An array of city and nonprofit leaders said the announcement was impactful and welcomed in part because the biggest barrier in their eyes to building more affordable housing has not been a lack of willingness from developers or too much NIMBYism.
Rather, simply not enough money has previously been available to boost the city's affordable housing stock, leaders said.
Developers, according to Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund Executive Director Christie McCravy, are otherwise "answering the call to serve the most vulnerable people in our community."
McCravy, joined Thursday at Metro Hall by Mayor Greg Fischer and various developers, Metro Council members and nonprofit organization representatives, said the fund received 17 applications seeking nearly $100 million to build more affordable housing in a recent one-month period.
But until the most recent infusion of money from the city's federal ARP allocation, not enough money was on hand to meet all of the requests, McCravy said. The new money for seven of the projects, though, "is giving hope to those who may have lost hope," McCravy said.
Established by the Metro Council in 2006 at the urging of various community organizations, the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund helps with the development and rehabilitation of "decent, affordable housing by making grants and loans, providing technical support and enabling builders and developers to construct affordable housing with less financial risk," as its website says.
A 2020-2021 annual report said it funded 3,582 affordable housing units in Louisville, while helping organizations with grants for things like supportive housing services that, for example, include counseling, education or job training.
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Fischer and Metro Council have directed a good chunk of Louisville's $388 million in federal ARP funding during the COVID-19 pandemic to housing-related initiatives, including an increase in the trust fund.
Last year officials directed about $89 million toward affordable housing and homelessness programs, including a "safe outdoor space" on College Street, down-payment assistance, home-repair initiatives and the $40 million boost to the city's Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Fischer said his administration, since he took office in 2011, has now spent $116 million on affordable housing, with over $97 million given to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
Louisville officials announced last week that $32 million of the city's ARP funds will go to creating additional permanent supportive housing, which offers on-site resources and services, such as counseling and addiction treatment, to residents who may need help living in their own home after experiencing homelessness.
It is all part of the effort to close Louisville's estimated shortage of 31,000 affordable units for those who make 30% of the Area Median Income, which a study said was $25,100 for a local family of four in 2018. Fischer has said filling that gap could cost $4.5 billion.
The residents who will benefit from Thursday's announcement are primarily in the 30% AMI category, officials said.
McCravy said each project will begin within 12 months and is expected to be completed within three years. In exchange for the public funding, owners of each new development must keep rent affordable for at least 20 years, she added.
Here are the seven projects:
Wellspring
Wellspring, which serves adults with mental illness, is receiving about $8.2 million to "rapidly develop critically-needed Supportive Housing to serve adults with serious mental illness," the organization said in a release Thursday.
Two ARP grants and additional funds from the James Graham Brown Foundation will give Wellspring about $13 million in total to add 50 units of affordable, supportive housing.
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Housing Partnership Inc.
Housing Partnership Inc., a nonprofit real estate development group, will receive $4.8 million to convert a vacant warehouse at 1405 W. Broadway that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places but described by McCravy as a "longtime eyesore in west Louisville" into a mixed-use development called The Gateway on Broadway.
The project will provide 111 one-bedroom and five two-bedroom apartments for seniors, along with one floor of commercial and office space.
LDG Development
LDG Development,a Louisville-based developer, will use $4 million to build The Eclipse, a 280-unit apartment community serving families in the Russell neighborhood, including former Beecher Terrace residents.
The new community will open near the new Norton Healthcare hospital, which is under construction and will go up at 28th Street and West Broadway.
Volunteers of America
Volunteers of America, the nonprofit that fights opioid abuse and family and veteran homelessness, and Beargrass Development are using $950,000 to build the 80-unit Bland Street Apartments, which are affordable and will include 20 units designated for permanent supportive housing.
REBOUND Inc.
REBOUND Inc., a community housing development organization, is using $5.2 million to build Portshaw, a 38-unit affordable housing development on a vacant parcel in Shawnee. REBOUND is partnering with Portland Memorial Baptist Church on Portshaw.
New Life Directions Ministries
New Life Directions Ministries, which supports single parents, will use $4.4 million to build and operate 20 permanent supportive housing units for homeless single mothers and their children. River City Housing Inc. is the project developer.
Louisville Metro Housing Authority
The city's public housing agency will use $11.8 million to build the 60-unit, three-story Iroquois Senior Living Community in the Hazelwood area.
Reach Billy Kobin at bkobin@courierjournal.com
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund has $40 million for 300 units
